As much as I'm happy to join in the general moaning and whingeing about themes, props and lack of dance content, I can't necessarily agree with the BIB. This is how proper ballroom dancing is nowadays - check out some ballroom competition dances on YouTube and you'll see this is the accepted style.

Having said that, I do prefer the less exaggerated style of a few years back. By way of comparison, my favourite ballroom dancers, Marcus and Karen Hilton, show a less exaggerated top line while, just ten years later on, the dancers in this competition are much more extreme. Go figure.

I guess my main gripe is with the 'entertainment' elements that have nothing to do with dancing, rather than the dance elements that reflect the new professional style.

I don't like the celebs doing different dances as you can't compare them. I liked it when it was 2 dances only in a week.

My mum has often said that it is much more flamboyant nowadays, compared to when she danced years ago. Plus, I meant to add in my previous post, that I am not liking the choice of music this series. Imo, AS should be danced to appropriate music...not Swan Lake. The pro dance to Witchcraft in the results show was the best all round performance all weekend. And when the music is great... Spooky, a great rumba tune, it's ruined by bloomin' Nancy & Anton's spectacular fail

I get abit disappointed when Pros aren't imaginative enough to create a routine that, while being tailored to their skillset of their celeb, still contains steps that equal more than sufficient dance content to make say... a Tango a tango, or an ASmooth and Asmooth etc.

Like with Brendan and his faffed about with Lulu here and there, I don't see why he can't just find a way for simplifiying the way the steps are danced (during a routine) so she can maintain the dance aspect within the routine instead of resorting to running up stairs or flying in on a chord. Like can't he just slow down the steps for her as James tends to do with his celebs. Same goes for Robbie, was there no step or Paso movemement to be put in place by Ola to eliminate one or two of the crotch grabs. With Artem and Aliona, why don't they just make their Pros do more recogised steps and movements in routines (which they're totally capable of) instead of over-doing out of hold stuff or over-twirling around a lamp post. Not to impliment content doesn't seem to just be with pros that have lesser well dnaced celebs but pros with gooduns too. It's almost like the gap of storystelling (with or without props) or gap of filling in (for lesser dancers) is becoming more important than learning and inc as much of the dance elements as before. Why do pros forget how much time they should/shouldn't be in hold, or do they just do less content because they prefer to be less limited. My hm said that a few of the Pros would be better on a contemporary themed dance show (because of their experimental non-traditional dance mindset) than on Strictly which I thought was an interesting point (though of course I'd pref they remain).

I personally don't mind out of th box dancing as long as the storytelling doesn't give way to the core skillset of the dance. Surely a good Pro can put a modern and entertaining twist on a dance without losing the basic and recognisable amount of steps/traditional movements that make the dance that dance.

In which case I won't be logging onto youtube to watch it! It just makes the women look completely abnormal. I understand what you say that it has become the accepted style but that just makes me question those who made that decision.


I loved that! Watched it all the way through. It made me wish this dancing bug had bitten me when I was young enough to take it up The overall look of it is so much more natural.


I watched less than a minute of that - I find it really offputting. I know little about dancing but now I know I'm definitely 'old school'


To be honest, I think without the 'entertainment' elements, SCD wouldn't get the ratings figures that it does and it needs those to warrant the expense of the programme. I first started watching SCD over all the hullabaloo with John Sargant - I was hooked on it from that moment on. Even if I do have moan about certain things and people

OMG I have just watched some Youtube excerpts from professional ballroom dancing and yes, you're right it's all gone that way now of faffing around. I saw a waltz and it sickened me the nonsense I saw there.
It looks as if I'm completely out of my time now. Such a shame if that's what the judges require now. It all looks so false and laughable, to be honest with you all.

totally in agreement, it's a shame there is so little dance content

You are not alone. I am bored to death with the "fun" routines from the celebs and their pro dancers. The rehearsal scenes are all of them fooling around and it is not funny or entertaining. We have so many fillers we hardly have a shown anymore. The same with It Takes Two. The ridiculous "who isdancing" and other fillers spoil the show. Quite honestly the video of the dancers fills more time than their actual dance routines. Do we really have to have "guests" that group on Sunday were positively AWFUL. More professional dancing and more of the celebs dancing. I thought Flavia and Vincent's Tango the other week was sensational.

Looking at that Karen and Marcus Hilton clip makes me realise what we are missing!

That IS DANCING - not the stuff we have had to put up with in this series - too much concentration on make up, dresses and most of all the fuffing around with bluddy props, and acting stories....

Get on and DANCE next week for Gawds Sake.

that would be lovely

And the sad thing is DWTS was created because the Americans liked SDC. But of course being America they had to put all the razzamatazz in, which we are now copying.

.....very badly.

BBC cannot produce quality shows and instead they mostly end up naff, cheap, extremely poor quality all around.

The set, staging, lightings, costumes all very badly produced.

DWTS production on the other hand is just class.

The producers should also axe some older pros & bring in more of Artems , Pashas, Katyas, Kristinas kind of dancers....fresh, innovative, creative great dancers.

I know I'll probably be hated for saying this but, I like the VT's it brings something fresh to the show and they have work the show around so that it's suitable and fun for the younger generation that watches the show nowadays.

The props- yes can sometimes be overused but I think most of the professionals make sure that they don't take away from the dancing.
James- When he got Alex to use the fan (week 2 I think?) she used it at the beginning and then began dancing and it worked really well, it added to the dance and gave her that elegance too.
Ola- When Robbie had the umbrella, cleverly Ola made the prop work and incorperated dancing together while he had the umbrella and then he let go of it.
Flavia- When she and Russell danced the tango last week and they had a bed it was only used at the beginning and at the end (with the teddy)

I personally think this IS the best line up of celebrities and the dances and VT's add to it

Completely agree. Every time a dance begins and I see half the dance floor littered with random props, my heart sinks a little bit.
Can't we go back to classic strictly? The programme makers must have seen last year that viewers were not happy with proper, so why are they repeating the formula this year!?!

Judges can't judge unless they have shared and agreed criteria. The producers seem to have changed the show's purpose so there are no agreed criteria. Not being able to dance well now doesn't matter. The voters need to be told what it is too, as the public vote has long since failed to reliably vote for the best dancing, and are now even more confused since the producers also don't know what the show is about. If the judges did now mark entertainment routines down for their lack of dancing, they would just be ignored and voted against by the voters - which will make things even worse for the good dancers. The pros won't break with the trend and concentrate on dancing when thats risky (because technical mistakes lose marks) and when everyone else is getting votes and marks for being more entertaining. It pays to go with the new trend, not to try for an extra mark from Len.

It is what it is, and will be until someone makes a firm decision what sort of show it is. Ultimately its got to move back to have tighter rules on what has to be in a routine - because if you just make entertainment the requirement you are on a downward spiral to custard pie throwing and the Chippendales or, indeed, Chippendales throwing custard pies at each other.

Umbrella is OK in the AS. In keeping. As may be a single lamppost or a gutter.
Chairs and benches are never OK. Poles are never OK. (No, I don't mean Ola).
Swings are not OK. Hats may be OK occasionally.

Themes sometimes work. Not sure about last Saturday. A theme ought to have something to do with dance - Cuban week or European week or something. Hm, sounds a bit dull.

Lack of dance content is NEVER OK. Never, Aliona. Aliona, never means never.

Exactly. The judges seem to be almost superfluous at the moment. Virtually no meaningful dance-related criticism at all – unless you count variations on a theme of ‘you need to give it a bit more welly, but it was really entertaining so I’ll give you an 8’. I can decide for myself if I’ve been entertained, what I really want is some kind of steer on how the slebs are improving, or not, as the weeks go by. Without some kind of codified standard the judging becomes random and subjective, and sometimes just laughable.

The dancing and the ‘journeys’ are what keep me glued week by week. It’s fun and sometimes a little bit inspirational (I’m a softie) to see people improve and quite often surprise themselves with what they can achieve. And that’s what I enjoy about Strictly – not fake blood or bats or woefully irrelevant VTs.

Could it be that they’re waiting to see off the real no-hopers before they start getting serious? Or is that just wishful thinking?

Not that I've got anything against the Chippendales you understand - quite the opposite.

Totally agree. And yes, wishful thinking I fear.

[quote=phoebefair;54132699]Totally agree. And yes, wishful thinking I fear.[/QUOTE]

Now I'm really sad! Maybe this year will be different.

Hi, SF101 - welcome to DS. You won't be hated for expressing an opinion - you are fully entitled to it, after all! I'm quite happy with a prop that's used appropriately and in moderation, like the ones you mentioned. Of course, 'good' and 'bad' are subjective, but I agree with your choices.

I don't like all the silly VTs - Holly tweeted that she had to get up at silly o'clock to go to that funfair in the freezing cold. Not exactly the best use of her time, I'd argue. Mostly the VTs are a waste of time and I fast forward through them.


The trouble with this viewpoint (and with which I agree) is that it will cut no ice with the BBC since we are not representative of the Strictly audience. Ratings show that last year's Strictly was the most successful of the lot (I think), so they must believe they've got the mix of dancing and entertainment just right. And now that Strictly is beating X Factor in the ratings battle, that opinion will be reinforced. I regret that the Americanisation of Strictly is well and truly here to stay.

I like being entertained: it's just that I find celebrities learning how to dance entertaining, not silly props, pantomime judges and bloody theme weeks.

Spot on, TuscanSun.

The thing with the props is that they are like a visual aid in a presentation(powerpoint, images..).They have to enhance the dance or the content of the routine but not replace the routine.
So far in this series the best use of prop for me has to go to Chelsee and Pasha quickstep:a little bit of faffing with plenty of content. I also think that Ola use of the umbrella with Robbie was brilliant..
When you have a very good dancer like Chelsee or Harry, let them dance.Show us what they can do and to make the routine perfect you can include a little bit of faffing.
When you have a dancer like Russell or Nancy for example the use of props (for at least half of the routine )can be understandable).
I like the fact that Flavia has been able to include at least some basic steps in the routine for Russell.
What I dont like is to see a celeb spend at least half time of the routine messing with props instead of dancing (when he/she can).

Strictly Come Dancing is down on last year; it's just The X Factor is down more.

I have to agree with the consensus of the thread -Strictly just isn't what it used to be anymore. Even Chris Parker's dances had more content than what we get today from the majority of the top celebrities - and it's not their fault.

If they're so insistent on props they should copy Dancing On Ice and have them for one week, marking on how they incorporate them in the routine and forget about them for the rest of the series.

They also need to keep the dance rules clear and concise so the audience can follow; they seem to think people do not care anymore about the technical side but the could not be more wrong.

TBH all that's keep me going is It Takes Two which is brilliant this year. If that wasn't around I don't think I'd care enough to watch the weekend shows - especially as we're seeing charactertures in the 'training' videos on the main show instead of the real people.

Yep, absolutely and wholeheartedly agree. The program is descending into farce. Such a shame.

I may not like the props in general, but I hope the dancing (content-wise) would improve once all the lame ducks are eliminated from the show.